


It's Cold Outside

by snarkymuch



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Concussions, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 11:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12703797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkymuch/pseuds/snarkymuch
Summary: A three day mission together leaves Ianto and Owen in a position they never imagined. All they can do is hope to survive. One-Shot





	1. Chapter 1

"Owen, are you going to help at all?"

"Why? You seem to have a handle on it." He walked across the room, plonking down on one of the small camp beds.

Ianto glanced at the doctor and sighed before turning back to the task of gathering the cooking supplies they had brought to the cottage.

Jack had sent them on a three day trip up the side of Mt. Snowdon to track down an alien artifact. They had spent the day traipsing around the trails with scanners, looking for trace radiation. They found the small, silver cube, but not before ruining their shoes and having fallen at least twice each.

To make matters worse, it had begun snowing before they had made it back to the small cottage. Although Ianto thought the building would be more accurately identified as a shack.

Jack had not told either of them that they would be staying in a cottage that lacked basic necessities, such as power and proper heating. Their torches and the fireplace were far from adequate to make their stay comfortable and it only served to make both of them tetchier.

"If you are just going to lay there while I pack, could you at least call Jack and inform him that we will be heading back shortly?"

Owen reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone with a huff. He really was childishly dramatic at times.

Ianto busied himself carrying the bags out to the SUV while Owen spoke to Jack on the phone. After the final bag was in, he went to the fireplace and began pouring water on the last of the coals.

"That should do it," Ianto said, rising and dusting his hands off on his jeans. "Everything all set with Jack?"

"Yep, told him we should be back in about 6 hours give or take."

"Good, let's get going before the snow picks up any more than it is."

"Don't need to tell me twice."

The weather had taken a turn for the worse. The snow was coming down in large, heavy flakes. The road blurred in a haze of white with everything else around it. Ianto had to slow the SUV down to nearly a crawl, drawing nothing but curses from the irate Londoner beside him.

"We are never going to get there if you don't any drive faster."

"If I drive faster, we'll crash," Ianto said, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. "Why is it that there is a freak blizzard the one time we have to come here?"

"Because God hates you."

"Fuck off, Owen."

Owen scowled at him and slammed himself back into the seat, drumming his fingers on the armrest impatiently.

"Stop that."

"Stop what," Owen said, drumming his fingers louder.

"That."

"No."

Ianto reached over and tried to thump Owen in the chest, but since he couldn't take his eyes off the road, he ended up whacking him in the mouth.

"You fucking tosser," Owen shouted as he twisted in his seat, making to return Ianto's blow.

Trying to avoid his grasp, Ianto looked away from the road. It was just for a moment, but it was a moment too long. The SUV jerked sideways, snapping both of the men's attention forward, just in time to see the horizon line shift 180 degrees. They had caught the shoulder and were rolling down into the embankment.

The strap of the seatbelt dug hard into Ianto's shoulder, and the last thing he remembered was seeing Owen's body smack hard into the dash. Then it all went dark.

When he awoke, the first thing he noticed was the cold, followed by pain, lots of pain.

He blinked, trying to orient himself. Everything seemed the wrong way up. He presumed this meant they had crashed. He glanced around, yes, definitely crashed.

Suddenly, the memories flooded back to him. Owen bitching … Owen hitting … Owen bleeding! Shit!

He tried to move his head to look for his friend. A shot of pain made him realize that may not have been a good idea. Feeling around with his hands, he found the latch to his seatbelt. He needed to free himself, so he could take the pressure off his neck. Hanging upside-down was doing horrible things for his headache.

The latch released. He managed to brace the fall, but the sudden pain in his leg made him cry out. He tried to bite back the tears as he moved to Owen. He was unconscious; a small gash on his brow was bleeding sluggishly.

His fingers went to Owen's throat, feeling for a pulse. He let out a breath when he felt a strong, steady beat under his touch.

"Owen." Ianto tapped his cheek, trying to rouse him. He was unsurprised when he got no response.

He felt over the doctor's limbs, trying to see if there were any obvious injuries that he needed to be careful of. He couldn't find anything, and with the engine smoking, he knew they had to get out of there sooner rather than later.

Half crawling, half hobbling, Ianto managed to drag Owen from the vehicle and over to a nearby tree.

It was only once he had gotten completely free that he saw how bad his own injury was. His right leg was already swelling and there was a large gash bleeding heavily on his calf, and given the pain he felt when he walked, he imagined it might well be broken.

He patted his pockets, checking for his phone. He groaned when he realized it was in the SUV. He took one unsteady step toward the wreck when a loud hiss made him jump, and a second later, the engine went up in flames.

He slumped back against a tree and slid down to the snow covered ground.

This is so not how he pictured dying. Cold, wet, and trapped on the side of a mountain with Owen of all people. Life really wasn't fair.

He looked over his shoulder to Owen. He was still out, chin resting on his chest. He could see Owen's breath in the cold air, so he knew he was breathing still. The bleeding had stopped too; he supposed that was a good sign.

He dragged himself towards his friend. With any luck, Owen would have his phone in one of his pockets. He gritted his teeth as he worked his way over to him, the pain causing dark spots to float in his vision.

"It figures, you cause us to crash. Then you get to sleep through the aftermath," Ianto said.

He patted Owen's pockets, a feeling of panicked realization hitting him when he came up with nothing.

No phones, no way to get help. Their only hope was waiting for the team to investigate when they didn't turn up in Cardiff later tonight.

With a strange detachment, Ianto noticed how red the snow around him had become. Part of his brain knew he should be concerned, but he couldn't really place why.

Oh, yeah. He was bleeding.

He felt around at his pockets, although why he wasn't sure because the first aid kit was in the burning SUV, not his pocket.

He felt dizzy and cold. He idly wondered whether Owen would mind if he used him as a pillow. It wasn't like he was doing anything else at the moment. It would be only fair.

No, he chided himself. His first aid training was faintly reminding him of all the reasons why sleep plus cold and bleeding were bad.

Another bang echoed through the crisp air. He looked to the burning vehicle. He could almost feel a touch of heat from it. It was rather nice, like a campfire without marshmallows.

Feeling too tired to hold himself up any longer, he let his body slump back toward Owen. His lap wasn't as nearly as comfortable as he'd imagined, but it would do. He was tired and the fire was nice.

"Night, Owen." He snuggled down and closed his eyes.

His pillow shifted, which was very rude given he was nearly asleep.

"Stop. Sleeping here," Ianto whined.

"Ianto?" a hoarse voice called his name. "Ianto." This time his name was accompanied with a nudge to the shoulder.

"Owen, you're awake?"

"Yan, wake up. You can't sleep."

"Yes I can."

"I mean it, wake up. We need to call for help."

"Can't, see look." He raised his hand to gesture to the fire. "Phones are melted. No good."

"Shit," Owen cursed.

Ianto tried to curl back up and close his eyes. He was so tired. A little nap was all he needed. Just a few minutes of rest, and why is his pillow moving again?

"Hey, wake up!" Owen grabbed his shoulder, rolling him back against the doctor.

Snowflakes were falling in his eyes as he stared up at the grey sky. Everything kept shifting out of focus, and just when he thought he had a handle on things, Owen's scowling face appeared in his line of sight.

"Look at me, Ianto." He hadn't realized that his eyes were drifting closed again.

"Hey, Owen, you're awake. That's good."

"Yeah, you already said that." Cold fingers lifted his drooping eyelids, and Ianto tried to squirm away from the intrusion.

"Hold still, you're hurt." He felt rough hands move over his body, poking and prodding at him. There was a shuffling noise, and then his pillow was gone, leaving him lying on the cold, damp ground. He supposed he could open his eyes to see where his pillow had gone, but he couldn't be bothered.

A sharp pain in his leg turned out to be reason enough though. His eyes shot open, and he tried to lift his head. Owen was knelt over him. There was another jolt of pain as he felt something tighten around his thigh.

The effort to hold his head up began to take its toll, and he let it drop back to the ground with a thud.

"Ow," Ianto complained absently.

"Yeah, no shit. Look, Yan. I'm going to see if I can save anything from the SUV before the fire reaches the back."

"No. Dangerous. Shouldn't go." That seemed like it made perfect sense to him as he said it, but it only seemed to make Owen's brow knit together in concern.

"Just stay put and don't move, alright? I'll be quick."

Didn't Owen know his leg was broken? Of course he wasn't going to move. What kind of doctor was he?

He blinked tiredly, looking at the falling snow _._

It was peaceful here by the fire. They should do this more often. What were they doing again? The thoughts seemed to keeping slipping away. It was rather annoying.

There was a loud crash and the sound of something breaking. His mind worked to place the sounds with something that made sense, but it came up blank. He couldn't for the life of him think of a reason for the noise.

Where was Owen? Was he awake?

He reached a hand out and began patting the ground beside him. He needed to find Owen. He could be hurt. Biting back a cry of pain, he pulled himself up onto his elbows. He looked around trying to find his friend.

Oh, there he is. He's warming up by the fire.

He slumped back down and tried to get comfortable. Maybe he could take a nap while Owen was gone.

As he woke, he slowly came to the realization that he was moving. Or more correctly, someone was moving him. Everything seemed blurry still, but he could remember some of what had happened. He jerked himself upright and tried to pull himself free from whatever was dragging him.

Owen had been knocked unconscious. Owen needed him.

"Easy, there," a familiar voice said. "Don't go thrashing around. Your leg is busted up pretty bad and so is your head."

"Ow'n," he slurred. His words sounded wrong. His mouth was dry.

"Yep, right here. And before you say again, yes, I'm awake."

Ianto's face must have shown his confusion as the doctor smirked. "You're perseverating, repeating yourself. You've said it every time you've woken up."

"Oh, sorry."

"No worries, mate," he said. "But you really need to lay still. The stretcher you're on is held together with tape and your shoelaces."

"Huh?" The conversation seemed to be moving to fast for him to keep up with.

What did his shoelaces have to do with anything, were they untied?

"I don't—" Ianto tried, but was cut off by Owen.

"Just lay back and let me do the work for a change, will ya?"

Well, if he insisted. Ianto let Owen shift him around some more, and finally, he let his eyes close. He imagined he was on a boat, the waves rocking him gently to sleep.

The soothing waves in his dreams soon turned to whitecaps though, rocking his little boat unmercifully. Owen was there, cursing like a sailor. The thought made him laugh. Owen in a pirate outfit, a little parrot perched on his shoulder. Suddenly the dream changed. The boat stopped and the pirate Owen was shaking him violently, tearing Ianto's clothes off. This was a strange turn of events and rather disturbing. Not the kind of dream he ever thought he'd have.

He struggled against the pirate, but he pinned him by his arms.

"Yan, open your eyes," the pirate shouted. He really wasn't a very friendly pirate, and also not that observant, since clearly his eyes must be open if he could see the little green parrot on his shoulder.

"I mean it. If you don't wake up right now, I'm going to post the footage of you and Jack from the greenhouse on YouTube."

He wouldn't! His eyes snapped open as he was shaken back to reality. He was greeted with a very concerned looking Owen.

"You worried me there for a minute. You wouldn't wake up."

"I was dreaming about the water, and you were there, but you were a pirate."

Owen raised his brow and blinked. "Was I at least a sexy pirate, like Jack Sparrow?"

"No, more like a grumpy, touchy, feely pirate who was undressing me." Realization smacked into him, and he felt a hand across his chest, his naked chest. "Owen?"

"You're clothes are drenched. I needed to get you out of them, but you freaked out on me, started thrashing around," Owen explained as he stood and went to the camp bed, grabbing a blanket.

"When did we get back here?"

"About half an hour ago. I had to break up one of the chairs to get a fire started, but it should warm up in here soon."

The doctor knelt down beside Ianto and tucked the blanket around him. "Do you remember what happened?"

Ianto thought about it. "We crashed?"

Owen chuckled. "Yeah, we crashed. Looks like you go the worst of it though. The steering wheel has left its mark on your head and your leg…" He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "You're leg has a pretty severe compound fracture. You need surgery … soon."

"How soon?"

"The sooner the better, infection will set in if we wait too long."

"It hurts." He wasn't normally one to complain openly, but he really hurt. The pain in his leg was nearly tangible it was so intense. He could feel his every heartbeat, echoing through the limb.

"I'm sorry, Yan. I wish I could give you something." His tone was apologetic, and it sounded strange coming from the normally disgruntled doctor. "But all I've got is morphine, and I can't risk giving it to you with that concussion."

Ianto squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears pricking at corners. What he wouldn't give to be unconscious again.

He heard shuffling footsteps and turned his head toward the sound. Owen was over by the fireplace stirring the coals and adding more wood.

Maybe it was his head injury, but it seemed like Owen was swaying a little as he walked back towards him. When the doctor stumbled and nearly fell into the table, he was sure it wasn't just his head creating the illusion.

"Owen, you don't look so good."

His skin looked paler that usual, and he was trembling slightly. "Yeah, feeling a bit shit, really. I think I need to lie down for a bit."

Owen stripped off his coat and boots and padded over to where Ianto was laying wrapped in his blanket. "Budge over," the Londoner said, peeling back the blanket from Ianto.

"What?"

"I said, budge over. I'm cold, tired and my head hurts."

Ianto shivered as Owen's cold body pressed up alongside his, sapping the warmth right out of him.

"You're freezing," Ianto protested.

Owen tugged the blanket up and under his chin. "No, shit, really? I hadn't noticed."

"Would you get your elbow out of my ribs?"

"Me? You're the one with a hand practically groping my ass!" Owen snapped.

Ianto, even though concussed, still managed to muster up the energy to glare at him. "You wish."

"As I recall, you were the one that was dreaming about me undressing you."

Ianto yanked the blanket hard. "Bite me, Owen."

"Fuck you, Ianto."

They both laid there in silence, annoyed, injured and sharing a blanket _._ Oh, and he was only wearing his boxers, which really made him believe God did in fact hate him.

He counted each throbbing beat of pain that pulsed through his leg until finally sleep, or maybe it was unconsciousness, took him.

The distant sound of someone clearing their throat pulled him from a heavy sleep sometime later. The room was light now, and he could see the door was swung open. He blearily looked around the room. His heart nearly shot out of his chest when he saw him.

Jack was standing in the center of the room, a huge smile plastered on his face.

Relief washed over him and he tried to sit up to greet him, but he couldn't. It was only then that he realized why Jack was grinning like a fool. Owen was snuggled up against his chest, snoring softly beside him.

He looked up to Jack and then back down at Owen.

Jack's shoulders shook with laughter as he stepped closer to help Ianto. "You know, when you two went missing, I hadn't expected to find this."

Jack laughed, Ianto cried, and Owen just nuzzled further into his chest.

He grabbed the blanket and pulled it up. He was going back to sleep. He closed his eyes, hoping that when he woke again, this would all have been just a bad dream.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of beeping pulled Ianto from sleep. He blearily looked around and took in the room. He was in a hospital and he had no Idea how he got there. The last thing he remembered was being in the cottage with Owen.

He tried to move but was assaulted by a jolt of pain shooting through his leg. Peering down towards his feet, he saw why. His leg was strapped and suspended from something Ianto thought looked like a torture device. He paled when he saw the metal protruding from his skin.

His stomach lurched and he groaned. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push the images of Lisa's body from his mind.

"Shit," Owen's voice came from across the room. Ianto looked toward the sound. Owen was striding towards him. "Hey, mate. How long you been awake?"

"Not long," Ianto said. "How did we get here? Where is everyone?"

"Jack had to go help Gwen and Tosh. He'll be back in the morning." Owen grabbed the chart from the foot of the bed and began flipping through it. "Do you remember the accident?"

Ianto nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I remember my leg hurting, the fire, and then it's blurry. I'm not sure, but I think I remember you sleeping next to me."

Owen grinned and winked. "We did more than that, mate."

Ianto's face contorted. "Please tell me we didn't."

"You offend me." He feigned hurt. "I'm not that bad a date."

Owen laughed and sat down beside Ianto. "You can relax. We didn't." He rolled his eyes. "Do you remember the ambulance ride?"

Ianto shook his head. "Not really, I don't know."

"Not surprising. Your leg got infected. You had one hell of a fever by the time Jack found us. Probably why I slept so good, you were like my personal space heater."

"What about my leg?"

"It's in rough shape. The surgeon was able to clean up the site where the bone went through and realign everything. As you can see, you've got quite a bit of hardware holding it together."

"How long will it have to look like... that?" Ianto nodded to his leg.

Owen scratched his neck. "It's going to take some time. You're on antibiotics, but where the infection had already set in, it may slow down healing."

Ianto palms were sweaty, and he clenched his hands into fists. "I can't live with that thing on me." He looked pointedly at the brace immobilizing his leg, "With those _things_ sticking in me."

Owen furrowed his brow and looked at him curiously for a moment. It was obvious he was trying to decipher what had Ianto so upset.

Ianto was staring at the brace, memories of body parts and metal, flashing through his mind.

Owen looked down at Ianto's leg and then he must have put it together as he sucked in a sharp breath and cursed. He hurried to the other side of the room and opened a closet. He took out a sheet and returned to Ianto, quickly spreading it out over his leg.

The sheet blocked Ianto's view and broke him free from the hold the memories had. He swallowed hard and tried to adjust the pillow behind his head. Owen reached over and helped him.

Owen looked at him, his face etched with concern. "Honestly, how you doing?"

"Not so good." He frowned; his stomach felt like it was doing somersaults.

Owen looked up to meet Ianto's eyes. "You in pain?"

"Stomach is not—" He stopped as he fought a wave of nausea. The stress of the situation was just too much for him.

Owen reached over to the side of the bed, producing a basin. "Here, you go." He cupped a head behind Ianto's head and helped him hold the basin under his chin.

Ianto stomach heaved again. He felt awful. He heard the Owen press the call bell and rattle off something to the nurse, but he was too busy trying to breath to listen.

"Nurse will be in with something in a minute, hang in there." Owen kept a hand on the back of Ianto's neck.

"Trying to." He leaned back and sighed.

Owen disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a wet flannel. He gently wiped up Ianto's face. "You want to rinse your mouth?"

Ianto nodded and Owen went got a small cup of water. "Here you go."

"Thanks," he croaked, and then rinsed his mouth, spitting into the basin Owen held beneath his chin.

The nurse came in the room and injected something into the IV port. She handed Owen something that looked like a small round plaster before leaving.

Owen came over and sat on the bed. "Between what she just gave you and this," he stuck the small circle behind Ianto's ear, "hopefully your stomach will settle down. I've also tapered back the morphine a bit."

Ianto closed his eyes. "Still feel like shit."

"It's only been a second. Give it a minute to work."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Well, since you saved me and all, I figure I kind of owed you one." Owen shrugged. "Don't get too used it though. As soon as you're better, I go back to being a prat."

Ianto yawned and stretched, rolling his shoulders. "Feeling a little better now, might try and sleep."

"Good idea," Owen said, getting up. He tucked the blanket around Ianto. "I'll be in the chair if you need something."

"Thanks, Owen."

He closed his eyes and let sleep take him. The dreams began soon after …

Lisa's mangled body was dragging itself toward him, her eyes pleading. She begged for him to save her, to make the pain stop. He tried to escape, backing away. He lost his footing, sending himself sprawling to the floor. He lifted a hand, looking down in horror at the blood that covered it. He scurried back as Lisa dragged herself closer.

"Please, Ianto," she begged. "Help me."

He screamed and curled into a ball, repeating over and over again how sorry he was.

Then he felt her hands on his body, clawing and pulling at him. He screamed …

"… Yeah, I think he's coming to … thanks I've got it from here." He heard Owen talking to someone and tried to open his eyes. He could feel someone's hands moving along his arm.

Ianto's heart was hammering in his chest. He could feel beads of sweat trickling down his neck. He took a deep breath and tried to push the nightmare away. He opened his eyes and saw Owen looking worriedly at him.

"Hey, you need to relax."

He tried to steady himself and catch his breath, but he couldn't. He just needed to sit up. He tried to lift himself up on his elbows, but Owen stopped him by putting a hand on his chest. Ianto couldn't remember ever seeing him look so worried.

"Yan, look at me." Owen held grabbed Ianto's chin and gently guided him to meet his gaze.

The dream had felt so real and he still was shaking. His breaths were still coming in quick short gasps.

Owen hand pressed down on his chest. "Slowly, nice slow breaths."

Ianto could only nod. He tried to do as Owen said.

"In … and … out." Owen coached him for a few more minutes and then reached up and felt Ianto's pulse. "That's a little better. How you feeling now?"

"Better," Ianto said. "Throat hurts."

"Yeah, you scared me there for a minute. You were screaming bloody murder. Must have been one hell of dream."

"It was."

Owen seemed to be waiting for Ianto to elaborate, but he wasn't feeling up to it. He felt a sob trying to escape and a tear rolled down his cheek. He tried to wipe it from his face before Owen could see.

Owen nudged Ianto's hip. "Mind if I join you? It's not like we haven't shared a bed before."

Ianto wasn't in the mood to argue, and he feared that if he tried to speak he would lose his tenuous control, so he just nodded and shimmied over. The bed was small but Owen managed to wriggle in, careful of Ianto's leg as he did.

Ianto stared at the wall beside him, trying not to let Owen see him falling apart.

Owen stretched out beside him and sighed. "You know after I lost Katie, I used to have these dreams … nightmares really. There were times I'd scream so loud the neighbors called the police."

Ianto turned and looked at Owen, blinking in shock. Owen had his arms folded beneath his head. He glanced over at him before looking back at the ceiling.

"She was so beautiful and seeing her the way I did every night ... her body like that. It broke me. I couldn't sleep for a long time. I thought I had no one left. I didn't think there was anything I could do."

"What did you do?"

Owen looked at him and chuckled. "I guess I didn't do anything. It was Jack. Somehow he just knew, and he took me aside and we talked. We still do sometimes. Bet you didn't know that." Owen looked over at Ianto, smirking.

And he didn't. He'd always thought there was animosity between Jack and Owen. "It helped?"

Owen shrugged. "I still get the dreams sometimes, but now I get good ones too. I can remember how beautiful she was without all the bad ruining it."

Ianto drew a breath, letting it out slowly, trying to maintain control over the building emotion. "There are times I forget what she looked like before … when I can only see—" Ianto lost his battle for control and the tears fell freely.

He heard Owen curse and then an arm slipped beneath his shoulders. Ianto didn't fight him; he let the smaller man pull him in as he sobbed.

Owen rested his chin on Ianto's head, stroking his arms and back. "It's okay," he soothed.

When Ianto's sob finally quieted, he expected Owen to get up and move back to the chair, but he didn't. He reached down and pulled the blanket up over Ianto and held him. "Go to sleep, I'll be here."

He closed his eyes and trusted Owen to keep the nightmares at bay.


End file.
